![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Book Review
Feb. 28th, 2012 08:12 amA Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books
by Nicholas Basbanes
This book was one of the readings for my class in Rare Books Librarianship, and it is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever been assigned. Basbanes takes the reader through an entertaining exploration of the world of rare books and book collecting. He discusses a fascinating group of people - mostly collectors but also some dealers and librarians - ranging from charming and distinguished scholarly types to highly eccentric and even obsessed bibliophiles. While he covers several historical figures, Basbanes largely concentrates on collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries, relying on and including material from many personal interviews.
Basbanes is both extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, making A Gentle Madness both intellectually satisfying and entertaining. The world of rare book collecting is both eccentric and rarefied, and he brings it vividly to life. He tells often lively stories about how and why these collections came to be - giving insight into the collector's personalities and lives, taking the reader dusty bookshops to posh auction halls, and revealing both the triumphs and the tragedies. Basbanes also makes excellent points about the value of books as cultural artifacts and beautiful objects and the important role that collectors play in their preservation and dissemination. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and often thought-provoking read.
by Nicholas Basbanes
This book was one of the readings for my class in Rare Books Librarianship, and it is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever been assigned. Basbanes takes the reader through an entertaining exploration of the world of rare books and book collecting. He discusses a fascinating group of people - mostly collectors but also some dealers and librarians - ranging from charming and distinguished scholarly types to highly eccentric and even obsessed bibliophiles. While he covers several historical figures, Basbanes largely concentrates on collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries, relying on and including material from many personal interviews.
Basbanes is both extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his subject, making A Gentle Madness both intellectually satisfying and entertaining. The world of rare book collecting is both eccentric and rarefied, and he brings it vividly to life. He tells often lively stories about how and why these collections came to be - giving insight into the collector's personalities and lives, taking the reader dusty bookshops to posh auction halls, and revealing both the triumphs and the tragedies. Basbanes also makes excellent points about the value of books as cultural artifacts and beautiful objects and the important role that collectors play in their preservation and dissemination. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and often thought-provoking read.
